


'Cause I'm Weak

by goldenkc



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mostly Fluff, Pining, Slight FitzSimmons, fitzsimmons being psychiatrists, it gets a little angsty, skyeward being dismissive about their completely obvious feelings for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 01:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9525584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenkc/pseuds/goldenkc
Summary: Ward and Skye are both unaware of their feelings for each other, but when one confronts another, it causes them to think twice about their supposedly platonic relationship





	

**Author's Note:**

> drabble prompt "stop looking at me like i'm your everything"
> 
> it was just going to be a drabble, but then almost 3000 words later, i decided to post it as a one shot

When Skye was shot, no one knew if she was going to make it. Everyone was distressed, even the emotionless May let out her anguish on Ian Quinn’s face. Coulson started a plan to retrieve the medication Skye would need to heal her. Fitzsimmons were working out every possible way to heal their friend while Jemma would shed countless tears every time she was alone.

But Ward… he broke. He would never let anyone in on this little fact. He was trained not to let his feelings get the best of him, not to let anyone know his weakness.

And that’s what Skye was. _A weakness_.

Ward had always thought all feelings toward the brunette were strictly platonic. But boy, was he wrong.

He was beating the shit out of a punching bag when May came in the gym to update her teammate on Skye’s status. She watched him deliver punch after punch relentlessly. She’d never seen so much anger in the man.

“Hey,” she called, nearly startling him.

Ward glanced over his shoulder at the pilot, relaxing his shoulders before returning to the bag. “How is she?” he asked, throwing lighter punches.

“Stable. No change. Fitzsimmons might have found something, but they said not to get our hopes up.”

He nodded lightly, “Right. Thanks.”

May watched him a few seconds longer before asking, “You alright?”

“I’m fine,” he responded, much too quickly to convince her.

She raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway, not wanting to pry. She turned on her heel, promptly walking out of the room. Ward looked over at the door when he heard it close. He launched his fist at the bag with a frustrated shout, forcing the bag to swing roughly.

He was breathing heavily, shaking his head as if to rid the thoughts. Thoughts of Skye. Her smile. Her laugh. Her irritatingly beautiful face.

“She’s just my teammate,” he whispered. “That’s all.”

Deep down, he knew he was lying to himself, and that Skye was _much_ more than a teammate to him.

* * *

When she healed and her stats were looking good, Ward started feeling lighter. He didn’t need to be worried about her anymore.

So why was he?

Ward would check on her as often as he could. Most often when she was sleeping, not wanting to have to explain his need to make sure she was alive and safe every second of every day.

One day she was awake, and she caught him before he’d had a chance to escape. “What are you doing here?” she asked hoarsely.

“Just checking on you,” he said casually. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been shot,” she chuckled lowly, trying to sit up, then wincing at the movement.

“Alright, well, I don’t want to bother you,” he waved, on his way out.

“Wait,” she called. Ward stuck his head back in the room. “Stay. No one’s been here in a few hours and I’m bored.”

He sat on the chair beside her, and when she didn’t say anything, he quickly found she was just looking for company. Ward had always been a man of few words, and Skye never minded. She was glad just to have someone in the otherwise abandoned room.

Eventually, she drifted asleep, and Ward couldn’t help but notice how peaceful she looked like that. She had no worry lines, her skin had a soft glow, and she almost seemed happy. He found himself wishing she was having bright dreams. After being thrown into the world of supernatural aliens and evil villains, Skye had lost her youthful joy. Ward missed it.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered to himself, suddenly realizing just how deep he was in.

* * *

Skye was cleared for field work as she was healthier than ever. And Ward was doing everything in his power to avoid her--which proved to be quite difficult on the BUS.

He was hiding in the science lab. He was tinkering with different elixirs until he accidentally melted a stapler. Then he opted for sitting in the corner with a mission folder. He froze when he heard voices on the other side of the door, then the clicking of a door opening.

“No, Fitz, that’s _completely_ illogical. How could you possibly know what would happen to them without having tested it first?”

“Because I happen to be a genius, Jemma.”

“That’s got nothing to do with it. I will _not_ jeopardize the safety of our test subjects based on your hypothesis--”

She stopped speaking when she spotted the specialist in the corner.

“Oh, hello,” Simmons greeted warmly. “What are you doing in here?”

“Um, nothing,” Ward quickly dismissed, sitting up straighter. “Just reading. It’s quiet in here.”

Fitzsimmons looked around the room at all the loudly whirling machines. “Right,” Fitz drawled out. “That’s rubbish, but we’ll drop it ‘cause we’re very busy. Isn’t that right, Jemma?”

Simmons was staring at Ward with a questioning look on her face and it was beginning to freak him out.

“Why are you hiding out in here? I’m sure there are many other rooms on the BUS you can avoid Skye in.”

Ward sputtered awkwardly, obviously giving himself away. “I’m n--not avoid--avoiding… Skye,” he trailed off quietly, realizing there was no point. “How’d you know?”

Simmons grabbed a stool and sat in front of the tall man. “She thinks you’re mad at her.”

Fitz shrugged, then busied himself with his hamsters while the other two spoke.

“I’m not mad at her,” he said quietly, looking down at his folder.

“Then what’s wrong with you two? You were fine weeks ago. Was it when she got hurt? I know what you’re like when it comes to emotions. What, you’re worried about getting too attached now? Because you never know when something like that will happen again?--”

“Stop,” he warned lowly, meeting her eyes. Simmons sighed, a small smile on her lips as she pieced everything together.

“You love her, don’t you?” Ward looked up at Simmons, completely prepared to kybosh her question. But the way she phrased it wasn’t exactly a question--more a statement.

“I don’t know,” he sighed.

“Well, I do. I’m quite an observant person. Ask anyone,” she smiled.

“It’s true, she is!” called Fitz from the other side of the room, starling Ward with his near-supernatural hearing.

“Talk to her, Ward,” Simmons offered. “No good will come of hiding out in various places to avoid having to discuss the real issue. Just talk to her,” she said, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

She smiled one last time, standing up and walking over to her best friend to help him with the hamsters. Ward sighed again, knowing Simmons was right. He loved Skye. So much so that it terrified him.

“Who the hell melted this stapler?!” Fitz’ voice screeched.

Ward had never run from a room so quickly.

* * *

“Hey!” Skye shouted from the other side of the room Ward had unfortunately walked into. “Don’t run away from me, Grant Ward!”

Ward summoned his blank expression and turned to face the near-raging brunette behind him. “What can I help you with, Skye?”

“You can tell me why you’ve been avoiding me the last two weeks. You’re supposed to be my SO, but you’ve had May training me. She makes me wake up at 5AM, Ward. 5AM!”

“I’ve been busy,” he shrugged nonchalantly.

“Bullshit,” she sassed back, crossing her arms across her chest. “What is your deal? Did I do something?”

“No,” he stated simply. “It’s nothing you did.”

“But there is something?” Skye inquired. “Come on, dude. We were finally getting along and now you’re backing away?”

He took a breath, looking her in the eye. “It’s nothing _you_ did,” he repeated.

She paused, wracking her brain for the meaning for that sentence. “Then what’d _you_ do?” She began to pick up on how stressed he was behind his seemingly stoic expression.

“I, uh…”

“Spit it out,” she lightly smacked Ward’s shoulder.

“I got careless. I was always taught to keep my emotions in check, to keep a blank face no matter what I’m feeling--pain, sadness, joy--I hid that.”

Ward felt the floodgates burst open. Everything he’d kept in came rushing the front and it seemed like Skye would be witness to his self-destruction.

“And I was doing _so well_ until you came along. Then it became increasingly difficult to keep it in, to remain the robot I’ve been labelled as. And it’s because of you, Skye! Because you showed up with your smiles and your laughter. Even after everything we’ve been through, you’re _always_ the first one to make a joke. And I love… that about you. I love how you find the light in anyone, and you’re always so quick to help, and you don’t back down from a fight even when you know there’s no outcome in which you walk out unscathed.”

Things started clicking into place for Skye as Ward’s eyes travelled anywhere but on hers. He kept talking until she interrupted him with nothing but a whisper. “You love me?”

He froze instantly, asking himself how to continue in a way that wouldn’t ruin whatever they had before he opened his stupid mouth.

But then that stupid mouth _just kept talking_.

“Yes.”

Skye let out a small breath and her brows furrowed as they always did when she was deep in thought, then she nodded slowly. “…okay. I, um, I just need…” she trailed off, looking away from Ward, almost afraid of the longing look in his eyes.

He understood. She needed space. She needed the hell away from the conversation immediately. Ward nodded, taking a step back, and forcing the pang of hurt and embarrassment down.

He walked away, not knowing Skye’s eyes were on him every step of the way out. She wanted to stop him, she didn’t want to hurt him. But she had so long told herself she didn’t feel anything for her SO that she could no longer tell what she really felt.

So she just let him walk away.

* * *

“Oh, not you now,” Fitz all but whined when he and Simmons walked into the lab where Skye was hiding from Ward. “You go check on the boys, Jemma. I’ve got it this time,” he said, pointing his thumb at the brunette in the corner.

Simmons walked over to the furry test subjects and Fitz pulled a stool in front of Skye with a sigh. She looked up from her laptop at him sheepishly, not wanting to be a bother.

“You want to chat?” he asked, pushing Skye’s screen shut. “He knows you’re avoidin’ him,” he said lowly, speaking of Ward.

She sighed deeply, slouching her shoulders and placing her laptop on the table beside her. “I don’t mean to.”

Fitz hummed lightly, “I’m sure.” He stared at her a moment while she played with the loose threads in her torn jeans. “Well, what is it? Come on now, I’m not a mind-reader.” Then he gasped loudly, turning to Simmons, “Jemma! Add mind readin’ to our to-do list, would you?” he asked his best friend.

Simmons chuckled softly, shaking her head as she grabbed a pad of paper from the top shelf of her station.

Skye looked at Fitz when he turned back to her. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Stop lyin’ to yourself, for starters,” he teased. “I’ve seen the way you two are together. Don’t try tellin’ me you don’t feel the same way he does.”

“I don’t, though,” she said desperately, on the verge of breaking. “I don’t know what he expects of me.”

“He’s not expectin’ anythin’, except maybe some honesty. You’ll figure it out eventually, but don’t hide from the poor sap in the meantime.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to figure out. We’ve always been SO and rookie. Next thing I know, he’s telling me he loves me,” Skye said, waving her hands frantically.

Fitz narrowed his eyes at his friend. “And there’s not one tiny part of you that feels the same?”

“Not one--” she cut herself off, realizing that that statement might not be exactly true. “How would you know if I did?” she asked, having not known herself.

He sighed, the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Let’s just say I know a little somethin’ about hidden feelings,” he muttered, looking over his shoulder at the small British woman with safety glasses on her nose as she stared intently at their hamsters.

“I think I need to talk to Ward,” Skye admitted quietly, grabbing hold of her laptop.

“Hmm,” Fitz said triumphantly, sitting up straighter with a smirk on his face. “I believe my work is here done. Go find him now,” he kissed the top of her head before waving her off and going to his place beside Simmons with a wide smile.

* * *

Skye held her laptop close to her chest as she walked around the BUS, looking for Ward. She didn’t expect to bump into him as she rounded a corner, resulting in his coffee spilling all over his shirt.

She apologized profusely and he tried to wave it off, even though it _was_ burning hot coffee. “Follow me to my room. I need a new shirt,” he stated, leading the way.

She waited outside his room with flushed cheeks as she ran through her head what she was going to say. She hadn’t thought that far ahead before she literally _ran into him_.

He stepped out in a tight-fitting black Henley and Skye’s mouth went dry. _Damn that shirt_. That mental comment sent her mind into overdrive as she asked herself how she’d never notice the effect of that shirt on her before--how she had never noticed _his_ effect on her.

“So what do you need?” he asked, not aware of her state of fluster.

“I… I think we should talk,” she said, trying her best to sound confident.

Ward nodded, telling her to follow him back to the common room. “Well?” he tried to keep his face straight; he didn’t want to let her in on how much he feared her rejection.

“Don’t do that,” she warned heatedly.

“Do what?” he asked as he crossed his arms, testing her patience.

“ _That face_!” she raised her voice. “It’s not _my_ fault we’re this awkward right now.”

“Excuse me?” he hissed. “ _You’re_ the one that’s been avoiding _me_. _You’re_ the one that decided _now_ we should talk!”

“You said you love me!” she exclaimed. “You freaked me out!”

“You think I wanted to do that to you? I can’t control this!” Ward shouted back.

“I know that, Ward!” she groaned, covering her face with her hands. “But you made me think about everything! All these _feelings_ are out in the open and it’s made me question how I feel about you and it--it--it _scared_ me!”

“Why?” he asked loudly, suddenly bewildered about where she was going with the conversation.

“Because I love you too!” Skye blurted, not even in control of the words before they came bursting out of her. Then she realized just how true it was. She loved him _so_ much it confused the hell out of her.

“You do?” he asked, uncharacteristically quiet as he slumped on the couch.

“Yes, idiot! God, of course I do!” she yelled. She sighed, collecting herself because the shouting was making her throat sore. “Of course I do,” she said in her normal voice. “How could I not?” she shrugged her shoulders, giving out a humourless laugh.

“But you’ve--”

“Been a dismissive dumbass?” Skye finished for him, sitting right beside him on the couch. “Yeah. I needed some time to figure it out. But yes, I feel the same way.”

She chuckled under the man’s intense awe-stricken stare. She muttered with a blush for him to stop it. “Stop what?” Ward asked, a soft laugh coming out of his mouth as he smirked at her.

She stared at him as the moment turned serious. “Stop looking at me like I’m your everything.”

He shrugged lightly, “I don’t know how else to look at you.”

Skye saw only adoration in Ward’s eyes and she knew he was serious. She dove for him, crashing her lips against his--which surprised him at first, but then he melted into it, gripping her waist and tilting his head. She grabbed onto the back of his neck, as if trying to pull him closer.

Ward drew back when he needed to catch his breath. He looked into her eyes, sweeping a piece of hair behind her ear. “I don’t have much to give you,” he admitted sadly, as if that would make a difference in how Skye felt. “We’re stuck on this plane most of the time. There’s not exactly anywhere for me to take you out… besides the kitchen.”

Skye chuckled, leaning her forehead on Ward’s. “That’s okay. That’s perfect. I make a mean mac and cheese.”

Ward laughed, placing light and closed-mouth kisses on her lips. “I love you,” he whispered between kisses.

Skye smiled so widely she had to pull back. “I love you. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize.”

He shook his head slowly, gently holding her cheek. “Don’t worry about it, rookie. I’ve got you now.”

And that he did.


End file.
